The Next 10 Years for Law Enforcement: Will We Survive?
/By: Kirk Lawless
On 9 August 2014, in Ferguson, Missouri, Michael Brown, a criminal engaged in actively assaulting a police officer, met his fate at the end of the officer’s gun. The event created the near “perfect storm” and has proved to be the catalyst for the anti-police agenda that the radical left had been praying for.
While none are kneeling at the shrine of the one they have elevated to martyr status, he was the best they had to offer and they took advantage of it. In reality, he means nothing to them. He was just another dead black guy; but he was killed by a cop, a white cop, and that’s what the “Left” and their anti-police agenda needed. MB could have encountered a black cop and ended up as dead as a beaver hat, just the same, but that’s not what the left wanted. That would have just been a 10-second spot on the local news.
I’m from the area, so I am more than familiar with the event and its aftermath, and most importantly what it did to cops across the nation. It served as the benchmark for the monsoon of shit that cops are still dealing with. Before Officer Darren Wilson did his job, nobody knew anything about Ferguson, Missouri. Now it’s an everyday household word. “The Ferguson Effect” is a bullshit term, based on a lie, but I suppose we’re stuck with it.
After then President Barack Obama weighed in and sent the criminal AG Eric Holder to conduct his Salem Witch Trial on the individual officer, the Ferguson Police Department, and all local cops were in the sights of the Justice Department. From there, it spread like wildfire. Those actions have continued to spread aggressively and cancerous-like with no sign of letting up, which leads us to the present, here and now. It has changed law enforcement, the way we operate, the intensified scrutiny, second-guessing, armchair-quarterbacking, and continued condemnation of an honorable and necessary profession.
Can we make it another 10 years? My answer is yes, but things need to change. I’m not so foolish to let it go at that. That’s how politicians talk, but I’m a cop so I’ll put a more personal spin on it.
First, the manipulation of left-wing media by “dark money” has steered the general public toward demonizing and hating the cops. We have thick skin. We’re used to it. The events of January 6th proved it at a level that disgusts me. If the public is so naïve to believe that everybody in the crowd at the United States Capitol were Trump supporters, grab a dictionary and look up “Agent Provocateur” and get back to me.
The media loved the event, those on the “Left” some on the “Right” were enthusiastic and jumped at both the chance to attack the standing president, while jumping ship, mostly to protect themselves and their positions by switching sides.
Did you notice who was stuck in the middle, in addition to the innocents and the peaceful protesters? The cops! We don’t get to run away. We get to stick around and deal with the shit. As usual, the cops had only seconds to react and by their actions, the events post-Ferguson had some of the boys and girls in blue exhibiting a great deal of self-restraint, hesitation, or a combination of both. Damned if we do, damned if we don’t.
Like the poor copper in the Capitol that had his expandable baton at the ready, who retreated up several flights of marble steps, instead of charging the bearded attacker and opening his head like a book. Pre-Ferguson, that guy would probably still be getting his head stitched up. I don’t blame him for not splitting the bearded guy’s wig (but it should have happened).
I don’t know the particulars yet, as to how the Capitol Police Officer Brian Sicknick died, but he died doing his job. His blood is on someone’s hands, but certainly not on President Donald Trump’s.
The woman who got shot (I wasn’t there, so I’m not going to weigh in on it, other than to say, if she hadn’t been there she wouldn’t have been shot; that is 100% true), I don’t know what her agenda was.
I would like to commend the copper on the front line throwing haymakers at the fence giving as good as he got, taking a quick break to Frisbee toss his uniform hat to someone at the rear so he could get right back at it, putting in work and punching folks who needed to get punched.
So part of us surviving the next 10 years - my second point - is we need more bosses like that guy. I’m certain he was a boss, by his uniform.
Point three: People will say, “The police need more training.” You probably have zero idea how much training some of your cops have. I’ve lost track of how many training hours I have under my belt (like most cops), a bachelor’s degree and a graduate degree and 28 years of rock-solid street cop experience. Where do you “get” street experience and “street creds?” On the streets, not hiding behind a desk, and point of clarification you really don’t “get” those creds, you earn them.
I spend time in the police academies and run in certain training circles, my opinion. Some of these places are setting up their recruits for failure (or worse). These academies should be churning out top-notch recruits, but then they’re turned out with field training officers who have only been cops for less than five years (it happens). It’s a recipe for disaster. If you have dinosaurs at your service, and don’t take advantage of them, shame on you!
Point four: This is really two parts. You want to fix the police? The system? You have to start at the top. Yup, politicians. You have just witnessed the work of the most pro-police and pro-law enforcement president the United States has had in the White House. I don’t need to get political other than to say look at the most problematic cities in the U.S. and follow the trickle, down to the local level. That includes mayors, prosecutors, judges, police chiefs and start there. The police can’t fix it; the voters are the only ones who can correct the ills of society.
Most taxpayers have zero idea where their tax dollars go. You get more bang for your buck when you elect folks who have a vested interest in their respective communities. The elected folks, who do the appointing and hiring, have an obligation to get the best people for the taxpayer’s money. Hold them accountable.
Say you work in a community that has a history of “bad politics,” the ones so incestuous everybody has eyes set a little too far apart as though their daddy was a hammerhead shark. In departments where “who you know” is more important than “what you know,” you might end up with a chief of police with a GED instead of a required college degree and those “rocket boys” or “wonder ponies” who are routinely promoted without the required qualifications and with the speed of a comet are the ones without street creds or street smarts. You put guys like that in charge and there you go, you’ve been had. Oh, they can fluff up a resume and lie about the education they wish they had, but they haven’t put in the work.
So, what kind of boss are you getting with a guy or gal like that? You’ll get a political hump; the kind that will talk about transparency, (even though they probably can’t spell it). It’s quite easy to figure out and is entirely correctable, but they’ll make you work for it. Show me a guy who made a career of kissing ass and demanding political favors and I’ll show you the boss that will spend his or her time hiding in the bushes when “shit gets real.” You’ll also end up with a second-rate department that will become a “jumping-off point” for cops to get a couple years under their belts and then leave. The cops in it for the “long haul” will surely suffer.
The politicians who condemn us, some of whom were protected at the Capitol and escorted to safety by wait, who? Oh, yeah, the police officers. Look, you bastards can’t have it both ways. You want us to be professional and non-violent for the most part, but when the excrement hits the oscillator, you want us to dial that violence shit up to 10. You are no more important than the next guy. We’ll put in the work. Here’s a clue, just let us do our jobs. The stick doesn’t discriminate; so don’t complain when we use it.
Cops are always going to be on the frontline. We’re also going to be targeted and we’re definitely going be stuck in the middle. We’ll line up to be the sacrificial lambs. But, we’re also going to wade into the middle of it to save your ass!
Can we survive the next 10 years? I believe we can, but we need to make some changes. The next four years are going to be tough on us. The cops reading this know it’s true, they just can’t say it. I will continue to do so. Be safe (and deadly if need be)!
